My Enterprise Confessions Ebook & The Huffington Post: A Long Tail Case Study

May 18, 2010 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

If you don’t believe in Interactive Marketing, the Long Tail of Content, Social Connectivity, Content Outposts, and being disciplined enough to write compelling content for the web…you are missing out. Here’s the progression that may change your mind about executing vs. thinking about when to act.

I wrote an ebook in early 2008 called “Confessions of an Enterprise Software Salesperson: What I Really Meant When I Said __________”
After about 500 opt-ins (list building for email marketing) I placed the book on Scribd (another fantastic content outpost for findability).
I still get 5-10 opt ins a month and have over 2500 reads on Scribd.
Today I check google reader for alerts on my name (online reputation management via listening strategies) and notice a tweet from Doug Mitchell (I call him “the other Doug Mitchell”) about the fact that “Doug Mitchell’s of the world are out there doing stuff. (Using Twitter to participate in the social conversation).
I check the link Doug is referring to and it turns out my Confessions book is referenced nicely on The Huffington Post (and my graphics work commended too I might add Brand Chef).
The author linked back to my hosted version of the book at Scribd. (Good thing I gave away the compelling content ubiquitously across the web without being greedy).

Now my phone hasn’t rung with people wanting to give me money (yet) today…but every bit of this exposure counts for me and for you. If nothing else, I’m tickled pink and now am writing blog posts and sending emails to my aweber lists about this (ie creating more content with keywords and analysis). Come on wouldn’t you feel good if your “ancient manuscript” was dug up and praised? (OR are you too busy to write it). Execute.

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Filed under: branding, findability, marketing
Tagged: content outposts, Doug Mitchell, Enterprise Sales, huffington post, listening strategies, long tail, ORM, reputation management, scribd, social media, software

“Social Media” Sleeps with the Fishes

March 10, 2010 by Doug Mitchell · 4 Comments

I hope you’re still with me and please let me explain.

Like many of us, I live in an always on, hyper-connected, socially engaging, linking, tweeting, statusing, emailing, automating, filtering, searching, blogging, podcasting, video’ing world that accelerates geometrically each few months. In this world it’s hard to remember that most businesses are still NOT doing much of the above as part of an overall web strategy.

If I meet with 100 businesses over the next week, I’ll find that 50 are “experimenting” with some of the above and perhaps 1 or 2 are strategically using over 50% of the tools to become “a socially findable and recommendable” business. The balance are still stuck with their old brochure site that hasn’t been updated in 3 years because “The girl who built my site for free to start her design career went to work somewhere and we don’t even have the passwords to change things if we wanted to.” (I’ve spoken to 2 businesses doing a combined $45 million in the last 2 weeks in this exact scenario)

It’s ironic that if asked, every one of the businesses in my survey would say the first place they…and their target customers look for information on people, products, places, and services is the web or more specifically, “They Google It”. Yet…when asked if Internet Marketing as a real part of their marketing strategy…vs. simply playing with the tools in an ad hoc manner…nearly all say no.

In most cases, companies are merely bolting on more features to a broken platform…like putting a fresh coat of paint on a rotting structure. There may be some benefit…but ultimately the structure is shaky. This is why social media as a stand alone practice is not the recipe I’d like to see being cooked in most business kitchens.

Can a company see great result with the bolt on approach. Yes. But most will not reach anywhere near their ultimate potential without an integrated web strategy for their companies. I’ve seen the examples like you have of the pizza place or the retail store seeing more traffic by advertising/sharing/connecting on Twitter. Some businesses are more suited to this strategy agreed.

I believe however that the term and practice of “Interactive” or “Social” Marketing is far more relevant and representative of reality. So for me…”Social Media” as a term and practice sleeps with the fishes. To get transformative results, it’s best to take a holistic approach that encompasses the client’s:

Website platform
Business methodologies
Definition of Conversion (call,click,buy,submit information)
User interface
Email marketing
Local search
Local business listing
Social findability and organic placement
Online brand (employees and company)
Target markets
Metrics for success
Commitment level from the top down
Desired keywords and long tail hyper targeted keyword opportunities
Ability of the company to execute on a strategy period…from a human resource standpoint (the NUMBER ONE reason we see failure in the online world is the skewed perception that these tools can just be added to Jimmie in marketing’s role “because after all he’s young and gets this stuff.”) Who’s responsibility is this and what are the metrics of success?

As with other tools (like blogging a few years back) Social Media converts and luminaries get sweaty and preach Gospel on the street corner and proclaim the arrival of the savior (aka Twitter)…but as a disciplined professional you know that without a comprehensive Interactive Marketing strategy behind your efforts that social media is….well….social. It is possible and desirable to state loudly and proudly that you’d like social tools to become transactional and that’s where most companies and consultants don’t execute.

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Filed under: marketing, social media
Tagged: Facebook, Interactive Marketing, Local search, online brand, social media, Twitter

Immigrant Entrepreneur Summit Drake University

November 14, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure today of speaking at the Immigrant Entrepreneur Summit at Drake University. It was a powerful day filled with the entrepreneurial spirit and rugged individualism that makes this country great.

I connected again with the conference organize Ying Sa and her magical company Community CPA that is the driving force and creative vision behind IES.

I also got to connect with Igor Dobrosavljevic and his smart girlfriend (she attended my session Suzana. I finally met Justin Volrath too. There was ample opportunity to chat Lori Bosley too from Mojo’s (you have to have their fish tacos!) and Foxboro Business Center. Toni Lampley was here too among others from NAWBO Central Iowa that I met recently when I spoke to their group.

So the bottom line is that I spent the day absorbing the power and spirit of Central Iowa’s rich immigrant community and participating in the awesome collision of the ON and OFFLINE worlds. What a day! I hope I can come back again next year and have stories to tell about how many immigrant entrepreneurs we guided into online findability bliss. Thanks so much for asking me to participate. Videos below. It seems the recordings broke into 2 pieces on their own. Sorry for the quality and the walking off camera…I just set up the Mac book on a whim to provide a record of this talk for my guests. No paper!

Cheers

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Filed under: marketing, multimedia, small business, social media, speaking engagements
Tagged: Des Moines, Drake, entrepreneur, ies, immigrant, marketing, new media, social media, university

Web Video As a Brand Accelerant

October 29, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

I talked at a conference put on by Love Scott on Tuesday morning along with Claire Celsi and Ben Stone. The conference took a unique approach to Social Media in that the conference organizer Andrew B Scott wanted 3 distinctly different uses for New Media tools. He wanted to hear the PR, Human Resource, and Findability/Branding angles and how those differ. I think the participants came away with some great value and it was a pleasure to participate.

This article in today’s Des Moines Register was compiled by Renda Lutz our resident technology/network advocate-journalist here in the metro.

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Filed under: marketing, multimedia, social media, speaking engagements, video
Tagged: management, Public relations, social media

NFL Feels Effects of Players Building Their Own Brands with Twitter

August 3, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

A great piece came out on MSNBC (source is Washingtonpost.com) August 1, 2009 called, “With Twitter, NFL Loses Control of Image Game – Fans no longer dependent on media reports for training camp updates“. The story highlights that players have begun to Twitter from training camp, in locker rooms, and to boost their own brand images. From my perspective the key takeaway here is the power of putting brand promotion in the hands of players.

The NFL is feeling a bit of stress because they’ve realized that just like the rest of who put our “brands” out there for public consumption that:

Our brands aren’t really “decided” by us…we’re just providing propulsion to the brand but we’re getting steered by crowd interactions, perceptions, and reactions.

Teams and the NFL have tried to react but obviously they’re used to being in control:

While athletes have used blogs the past couple of years, they say Twitter is quicker, more accessible and less likely to be filtered through agents, publicists or team officials before publication. From the perspective of both fan and athlete, that’s a good thing. But the National Football League is an image-obsessed league, routinely beset by athletes’ off-the-field antics. Twitter has already grown into a social media tool over which the league has little to no control.

This story highlights the uncomfortable balance between organizations and the people that drive them forward. Is your organization comfortable enough to “Let your best tell the world what they think?” As more and more players use Twitter and other tools to build their brands and interact with fans…we’ll start to get a much clearer picture of who’s who…and what’s what on…and off the gridiron. There’s no way to stop this train and I’d like to see a team have a “Must Tweet” policy and see what happens.

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Filed under: branding, marketing, social media
Tagged: National Football League, NFL, social media, Training camp, Twitter

Brand Amplification Camp 2009 – July 11, 2009

June 3, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

CreateWOWmedia’s Brand AMP CAMP is here!

BrandAmpCamp is…
An intensive total immersion day where you come away with a brand new website, a company intro video, and an Amazing Amount of hands on knowledge…and the appropriate follow up so you can return to your business empowered to become findable and engaging on the web.

For ALL of the DETAILS…please visit BrandAmpCamp.com

Schedule of Events:

7-7:30AM – Registration and Breakfast

7:30AM SHARP – Keynote: Doug Mitchell – Are you Findable and Engaging?

8:00AM – Noon: Morning Learning Labs (labs rotate every 50 minutes)

* The Art of Listening
* Organic Findability Lab
* Intro to Audio/Video Lab
* Blogging with WordPress
* The Art of Networking

Noon – 12:30PM: Lunch and Work Presentation: Adam Steen – The Human Network

12:30 – 1PM: Question and Answer Session 1

1PM – 5:15PM: Afternoon Learning Labs (labs rotate every 50 minutes)

* Developing Online Communities
* Audio/Video Lab
* Using Social Media Lab
* One-on-One WordPress Customization
* The Total Brand Experience

5:15PM Capstone: Mike Wagner – “Face 2 Facebook: Connecting Online & Offline Brand Experience”

5:45PM – 7PM: Question and Answer Session 2

7:15 – 9PM: Reception with Drinks and Dinner at Court Ave. Brewing Company

Required Pre-work:

* Prepared elevator pitch script
* Domain nAMe and template selection
* Desired website graphics concepts and color schemes
* Register for google analytics, google alerts, google reader, and youtube accounts
* Deliver written goals and outcomes for the site including keywords

Final Deliverables:

* WordPress site with selected template
* Graphic Banner and basic site design layout
* Video and Audio Business Introductions
* Links and resources
* Flip CAM and WebCAM
* Follow up Webinar
* The knowledge and resources to continue toward success!

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Filed under: branding, small business, social media
Tagged: boot camp, brand amplification, social media, Training, WordPress

Get To Know Corning, Iowa

May 6, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

I was honored to spend the day yesterday with the Adams County MyEntrenet group in Corning, Iowa yesterday for a lunch and learn where we dove into Organic Findability and Engaging Online. It’s truly amazing to see entrepreneurs and business owners coming together to support one another and grow their businesses.

Downtown Corning is an amazing little strip of businesses who are trying to differentiate and draw in clients and visitors from a wide radius. I learned about Shearer Christmas Tree Farm, Fudge Town Interiors (no site..yet , and the Fickle Frog…most of whom are just now starting to spread their “web wings”.

I captured a video on my way home since I wanted to share some of my reactions to the day as they were raw and on my mind. Please visit Corning Iowa and look up Nancy Turner if you’d like to know more about doing business with or in the great town of Corning, Iowa in Adams County.

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Filed under: clients and case studies, findability, small business, speaking engagements
Tagged: Adams County, corning, Iowa, my entrenet, organic findability, projects, social media

Entrefest wrap up

March 16, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · 1 Comment

I was priveleged to speak at Entrefest a couple weeks back and I had the time of my life. Entrefest is a 2-day conference that delivers training, information, assistance…and awareness to businesses new and old.

My sessions were on Search Engine Optimization and Social Media and they were very well received. The bottom line is that most businesses and government (state or otherwise) sponsored business programs are not talking about the Internet as marketing platform. If they are, it’s most likely in the context of a “brochure site”.

I think I can walk away from this conference proud that we made a difference. Our team hopes to continue the conversation with all of the individuals and agencies that we met…both online and offline.

Thank you so much UNI, Maureen, and Amy for making us feel so welcome.

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Filed under: speaking engagements
Tagged: Entrefest, Search engine optimization, social media

Blogging Slow Down – Kool Aid Shortage

February 25, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

Now that blogging is more “mainstream” are you noticing a slow down in blogging by those blogging to grow business versus those blogging for profit? I have. I’d say 2-3 years ago there was almost a “Drink the Kool Aid” type feel about blogging with 3-5 posts a day being the norm. Of course, the economy and business had yet to reveal its true dysfunction so maybe business leaders had more time then.

Now, I get the feeling that “People are too busy trying to make sales and grow business” to spend time blogging so much. I’m not in anyway discounting the power and purpose of blogging. I am commenting on the pace.

I know my personal blogging pace (commentary on life, general business, and Iowa) has slowed dramatically. I haven’t had the brain bandwidth to be thinking about anything but growing my business and much of that growth is coming from human interaction, (aka face to face meetings…eeek!).

Even here on the CWM site, blogging volume has been steady but no where near what I coach my own students to do. Are we experiencing some of that “I’m too busy to blog” syndrome that we preach is an excuse for not marketing strategically online?

Blogging seems to follow a bit of a cyclical nature in my world. When I’ve recovered some time to think and “Work on the business instead of in the business” I blog more. When I’m running from 6am-9pm 14 days in a row, I blog less. You know I’m cool with that. Put down the Kool Aid and let’s have a group blogging hug.